There are many reasons a potential seller will not list even though they know they should and, in some distress cases must, sell. Perhaps the house needs some fix-up work or they have a large family making it challenging to keep the home showing ready all the time. Either way, your job is to find those unlisted homes and give your buyer every opportunity to buy the perfect home.
This is how it works. There are a few activities that you will want to employ. It doesn’t matter if there are 20 listings in this area, your job is to find the ones that are not openly marketed. First you send a “House Wanted” postcard to the neighborhood your buyer is interested in. The verbiage should read something like “Mr. and Mrs. Jordan are interested in buying a home in your area. They have been pre-qualified up to $250,000 and are looking for a 3+ bedroom 2+ bath home. If you are considering selling we would love the opportunity to do a quick preview to see if your home fits the Jordan’s needs.” The next thing you do is walk the neighborhood on the weekends and talk to anyone you see on the streets. Ask them if they know of anyone who has been talking about selling. And lastly, get your request on Craigslist in the property wanted area and renew the ad as often as you can until that buyer finds a home.
Not only does this program work to support your buyer needs, it also gives you more insight into specific areas and knowledge about homes that may be available for future buyers. Below is an example of a postcard I just sent for a local Tucson agent. Don’t forget to partner up with your favorite vendors, especially lenders who have a mortgage insurance program like Nova Home Loans here in Tucson. It is great for them to get their refinance message out on your postcards.
I have also used this buyer marketing program to help agents who want to raise their average sales price and target higher end homes. All you need is one qualified buyer interested in that price range and you can get started. If you don’t work with those buyers, here is how you can start. Borrow listings from your brokerage agents and sit them open, advertise them and get them online with your contact information. Use sites to get them syndicated, on Craigslist and pushed out through social media. It is free and you will reach the audience interested in the price range you are targeting. Lastly, market your “Home Wanted” buyer program to all buyers to show them what you will do for them that most agents are not currently doing. You can place your ads for this program in the homes section of the newspaper and build a landing page on your website for them to learn more about your program. Buy a domain that reflects this program and have it land on the page related to it. Example
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